After regaining his equilibrium, Minato sat up and looked around the cold empty warehouse. He never took the time to really observe the details of the decrepit old building they had picked by chance to enter. The building had a very industrial feel to it. It had huge thirty-five-foot ceilings with dark, weathered high beams. The walls that surrounded the warehouse were what appeared to be a very rickety looking aluminium siding.
The old concrete flooring was riddled with crack from years of wear and tear. A thin layer of dust and dirt had collected through the building. The walls housed tall, thin, now very broken windows around one length of the building. On the opposite side, that wall houses three different huge bay doors that must have been used as a loading bay for the loading and unloading of whatever used to be stored there. At the other end of the building there were several abandoned racks of shelving that appeared to somehow have more dirt on them than the floor.
Nighttime had consumed the evening sky and has now enveloped the warehouse in total darkness. Minato could no longer see anything but the faint glow of the moonlight radiating in through the broken windows.
'What happened? Where am I?' Minato thought to himself.
'The warehouse? Why am I...' Before he could finish his thought, memories hit him like a freight train. The last thing he can remember was being in the warehouse asking for the Kyuubi to grant him it's power and the crystal.
'The crystal, fuck...'
Being springtime, the days were getting longer so he feels it shouldn't be dark yet.
'Wait, I must have passed out again, but if that were the case where are the... SHIT!' "GUYS! Where are you? Are you there?" he asks, panicking and trying to see if he can locate his missing friends in the dark rundown building.
Groans echoed simultaneously through the hollowed-out building.
"The hell was that shit?" Grumbled Iishi.
Nadire says "Not sure, does anyone have a light?"
"Yeah, give me a second" Dosu pulls his shiny silver Zippo out of the back pocket of his black loose-fitting jeans. Dragging his thumb over the wheel causing the flint to spark the flame to burst to life luminating his immediate vicinity.
"Minato?" asks Nadire.
"I'm here" he responds.
"So, did it work?" asks Ryuki.
"Not sure, but with the pain and missing time it better have" Minato responds unenthusiastically.
"Did you bring the book Minato?" Nadire asks.
"I'll have to check my bag, mind bringing the light over here Dosu?" They all get up and follow Dosu in the direction of the sound of Minato's voice.
"Any idea why you didn't get sent flying like the rest of us pretty boy?" taunts Iishi.
"Leave him be" warns Nadire.
"Really it's fine Nadire. Actually, no I don't know but by all means, if you would rather know the feeling of your brain combusting while have your organs simultaneously feel like they're being fried in a vat of oil by all means with can switch." Spews Minato, he was not impressed with Iishi attitude towards him.
"Wow, you really did it this time Iishi, I don't think I've ever heard Minato pissed off before." Gengko was getting way too much amusement out of the whole situation.
"Nah, I'm alright. Was just really painful, it better have been worth it is all I have to say" say Minato.
"Thanks for the light Dosu, now my back should be right around here somewhere." Pocketing the cracked crystal in the front pocket of his navy-blue hoodie, Minato stands up and looks for his pack.
Without too much hassle he's able to find it with the help of Dosus lighter. Looking through his still opened pack he pulls out the old brown book.
"Yeah, I have it, though I don't think I'm really up for going through it in a creepy old warehouse with nothing to read with but the flickering light of Dosus Zippo '' says Minato.
"How about we get out of here and head to my house or something?" he asks.
Everyone was more than happy to agree to this suggestion. Minato slides the book and removes the crystal from his pocket now placing it securely in his pack as well.
The group of boys follow Dosu and his flickering flame to the far corner of the building and set about squeezing through the ripped siding in which they used to sneak in. The walk to Minato's place was rather quiet, no one dared to speak, and if they could, none of them would know what to say. The early spring weather made the temperature a little chilly but not too cold as to make the boys completely frigid. It was a marvellously clear night with not a single cloud in the sky.
They all make it to Minato's house without any trouble. Minato lived by himself and never met his parents. He spent most of his life in foster homes until he was old enough to look after himself. Entering his little bachelor apartment, they all gathered around the couch and table and chairs. Minato had a pull-out couch so that he could save on space. This gave his living space double the room, instead of having a couch and a bed he was able to double his couch as a bed allowing him room for a decent sized table and chairs for whenever his friends would come over like now.
Upon walking in, his kitchen was to the far right of the entryway and on the far left was a door leading to his small but cosy washroom. Between them was his living space that had his pull-out couch and table and chairs acting as a divider between living space and kitchen. On each side of the couch, he had matching sand coloured wooden end tables. The wall that houses the washroom door also had a small black tv stand that his television sat upon. The floors were an old worn-down oak, but Minato thought it gave the space character. His walls were painted in a very warm cappuccino colour, overall, it was a very cosy space.
The boys enter the apartment, removing their shoes and immediately make their way over to take a seat.
"Alright come on let's get this over with, I don't know about the rest of you, but if I'm too late my mom will have my hide" complains Ryuki.
Looking over to the clock, it read 12:17am. "Where did the night go? I often forget you guys all have parents" Minato chuckles awkwardly while rubbing the back of his neck. It's a truly strange feeling being the only orphan among his friends.
"Alright I'm not going to make you wait any longer then." Unzipping his bag, fumbling through its contents he quickly produces the demon book.
"Well, that's different," he mumbles.
"Can you read it or not?" urges Ryuki.
"It's weird, I can understand some of it, but it's like I'm viewing it through something else's eyes. I say something because every word I skim over becomes distorted then enhanced, like my eyes are bouncing back and forth between several different viewpoints of the same text. It is extremely disorienting, and I still can't completely understand it. From what I'm able to understand, it seems to be talking about the history of energy, I think. Like I said, it's very disorienting." After informing his friends of what he's discovered, Minato shuts the book.
Apparently reading the text comes with it's own set of issues because now he's forced to squint his eyes shut while leaning over and firmly squeezing his forehead between his index finger and thumb trying to ward away the approaching migraine he's now facing.
Everybody but Nadire makes their way out leaving the two teens alone. Minato takes this time to grab a bottle of painkillers from his bathroom cabinet and walks out to his kitchen. He opens his cupboard and grabs a tall clean cylindrical glass from the middle shelf and sets it on the counter beside the refrigerator. Opening the door to the fridge he reaches in and grabs his jug filled with ice cold filtered water, bringing it over to his glass and filling it three quarters of the way full. Placing the jug back in the fridge he opens the bottle of painkillers and pours two little pills out into his palm. Bringing his palm up to his mouth and throwing his head back to allow gravity to do the work of transferring the pills from his hand to mouth, he grabs his glass of water, takes a large sip and swallows the medication. After finishing his glass of water, relishing in how the ice-cold water hard chilled the roof of his mouth and back of his throat allowing for some relief to the pain he's feeling in his head, he places his dirty cup in his sink and walks out to his bed where Nadire is sitting.
"So, how are you feeling?" Nadire asks him with a worried expression on his face.
"No going to lie, I feel like I got whacked upside the head with a cinder block" he tries to chuckle but immediately regrets it once he feels the extra blood rushing to his brain.
Nadire looks at him and frowns "You should really get some rest then."
"Yeah, I will. What about you, are you going home or staying the night?" He asks his best friend.
"I'll stay, I feel like keeping an eye on you tonight might now be a bad idea given the events of today? Nadire says.
"Alright, help yourself to my closet to get yourself something more comfortable to sleep in, I'm going to get a quick shower before bed, I feel so gross being covered in who knows what from the floor of that warehouse" he says.
Walking over and grabbing himself a clean pair of boxers, a pair of blue plaid pyjama bottoms and a white, loose-fitting v neck t-shirt, Minato walks off to the bathroom to shower and brush his teeth. Nadire helped himself to a pair of black sweatpants and a black t-shirt. While he waited for his turn in the washroom a thought pops into his mind, and for the life of him he can't stop thinking about it.
'Why do I want to see the crystal?' he thinks to himself.
Walking over to the hook that supported Minato's backpack Nadire begins to fumble through it and comes across the crystal. Upon inspecting it he notices the crack in it, his eyes widened.
'Was this from the power or did dropping it cause this?' were his only thoughts.
He remembered Minato saying the power would cause the crystal to crack and once it broke, they would no longer be in command of the demon.
'But to cause a crack from just one use' he really wishes he had a comparison to know if this was normal or not.
Then again 'since when is summoning a demon forth and bending its power to you normal?' he chuckles to himself at the thought only to be snapped back to reality as Minato comes up behind him and rests his chin on his shoulder. Startling Nadire, causing him to jump.
"Being nosey I see" Minato says chuckles playfully.
"Damnit Minato! Sometimes you're too damn quiet" Nadire laughs.
"This is my apartment, plus I wasn't that quiet, you just weren't paying attention" smirks Minato.
"Yeah, yeah whatever you say buddy. Sounds like someone's feeling better at least" Nadire says while looking back at the blonde.
"Yes, it seems the painkillers are already working thankfully" he responds back.
Before he allows Nadire to place the crystal back he asks him "so seriously, why were you going through my stuff?"
Looking Minato in the eyes he says "I really don't know what it is, but I couldn't stop thinking about the crystal. Before I knew it, it was in my hand and I was contemplating the normality of summoning demons and using their powers, realising there is nothing to compare it to."
"Hmmm, so you're drawn towards it to huh? At least it's not just me" mumbles Minato.
"No, it was subconsciously burrowing a hole through my brain until I checked on it. But what I really want to know about is this crack." He turns around and holds the crystal up to eye level with Minato.
"D-did you drop it?" He asks Minato
'Fuck, why did I stutter over asking a simple question, I never stutter' thought Nadire.
"No" was all Minato had to say for Nadire to know that this power was something they were going to have to use wisely.
Waking up the following morning Minato finds his chest comfortably warm. Looking at his chest he's met with an ivory skinned teen with warm chestnut brown hair snuggled deeply into his chest.
Sighing to himself and thinking 'every time he's here I'm his damn pillow. Well at least I wasn't woken up to him dry humping my hip this time' he chuckles to himself.
Gently rolling his best friend off him he slides out of bed and heads to the washroom to relieve his bladder. After washing his hands and face and brushing his teeth, he walks out and heads to the kitchen to make a quick breakfast for his friend and himself.
The smell of bacon permeates the apartment, the smell is enough to wake the comatose Nadire. Sniffing the air, he sits up and turns around to see Minato finishing up the scrambled eggs.
"Ah, sleepyhead has graced me with his presence. Finally I see" Minato chuckles.
"Hey! it's not my fault I sleep better here" Nadire retorts.
"Yeah, whatever you say sleepyhead, now get washed up, breakfast is done." He throws back at him.
The two teens sit side by side at the table and enjoy their breakfast of orange juice, bacon, eggs and toast in a comfortable silence.
Minato finally speaks up and says "We really need to figure out what we're going to do about this power. We obviously can't go around doing stupid things with it."
"Hmmm, I was thinking about that too, you're the only one who can actually access the power, but maybe we can get everyone together and make a decision on how we'll go about this?" Nadire offers.
Stopping to contemplate it for a moment Minato nods his head. "Alright, after breakfast we'll ask everyone to come over," he says.
Two hours later the full group finally convened together at Minato's apartment.
Minato speaks up "alright I know we have had an interesting week, but now that we know this power is the real deal, we need to figure out how to go about deciding when and how we use it. Last night's usage caused the crystal to crack already. Last thing we want is to waste the power on useless crap. I'm still not sure learning the book's language was a smart choice because from what I could make out, the only bits I understood were talking about the beginning of power and It felt almost like a history lesson."
"Hookers and blow" is the only thing Iishi blurts out.
Kongo gives him a swift cuff upside the head. "Idiot," he says.
Iishi is about to say "Ow what the fuck Fa-"
Before he can finish Nadire slaps his hand over his mouth and says "NO, we are not doing this shit again, sit there and shut up the both of you" he glances from Iishi to Kongo with a soul killing death glare.
"Mmfmwimne" mumble Iishi through Nadires palm.
Removing his hand, Nadire asks "I'm sorry, what was that Iishi?"
"I said fine asshole" he huffs.
"And you?" Nadire looks over at Kongo.
"Fine by me" he smugly states.
"Alright moving along" states Nadire.
"Minato and I were thinking that since life is unpredictable and emergencies can come up at moments notice, we should set specific time aside that is designated to the demon power, and its use. For whatever reason Minato was chosen by fate to stumble upon this power and it only feels right that we pay respect to it" he says.
"You mean like devil worshipping?" Ryuki asks.
"Saying it like that just sounds wrong and besides it's not a devil it's a demon" says Minato.
"Oh, sorry" Ryuki says sarcastically then laughs.
"Alright, say we do this, what would the process be?" Asks Gengko.
"Well what Nadire and I were thinking is we could gather at the warehouse once a week and I could try and contact the Kyuubi to try and get on it's better side for us. It claims that we are greedy, maybe showing it appreciation or even doing some things it wants could benefit us" says Minato.
"So, you want us to do demon bidding? Hell, pretty boy why didn't you just say so. I'm so in!" Iishi says way too enthusiastically.
"You guys know me, I'm not really against anything and I'm willing to try anything twice" Raiga shrugs.
Dosu just shakes his head and says "as long as I'm not constantly subject to the blast wave of power I'm all in."
"Alright then, let's put the first topic to a vote, all in favour of paying weekly respect to the Kyuubi raise your hand" Nadire stated.
With all eight hands slowly making their way up into the air Minato says "alright it's unanimous, we'll meet every week. Now on to our next topic, which day should we meet on? I was thinking Friday like we have done the last two weeks? Everyone in favour of Friday night meetings raise your hands."
On que, all eight hands short up once again. "Excellent," Minato says.
"I honestly don't think we've all agreed on two things at once before, almost like it was meant to be" chirps Nadire.
"Don't get fucking cheesy" chuckles Minato.
Nadire laughs "sorry."
"Alright on to our last order. We obviously can't go around talking about our demon power appreciation group, that's going to start sending up red flags to people. I know I plan on being a cop, but I would rather not be associated with anything conspicuous, so I was thinking we need a nice inconspicuous name. Anybody have any name ideas, I have one, but I want to see if you guys have any idea first. And before you say anything, no Iishi" says Minato.
Iishi glares back as if he's never been so offended in his entire life, but Iishi being Iishi he brushed it off quickly.
"You realise we are a bunch of guys, right? I hardly think any of us really care what we call our little demon group" Ryuki states.
"He kind of has a point, '' agrees Gengko.
Signing Minato gets up and grabs a piece of paper and a pen and says "alright we're going to have our final vote. I have come up with 3 different names. I just want you to choose which you prefer best, then I'll make a quick tally and we will be adjourned."
Just like the other votes, this too was a clean sweep. Unanimously they all decided that their little cult would be known as Crimson Lotus.